Quinn, Emanuel make laundry lists for Springfield

November 13, 2012

Election day wasn’t the greatest day for Illinois Republicans. Not only did Illinosians hand President Barack Obama the state's twenty electoral votes, Democrats now have a veto-proof majority in both chambers of the state legislature.

Just a week later, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has already made a list of things he’d like those Democrats to accomplish. First, he continued his call for a casino in Chicago. He added he also wants lawmakers to tackle issues like licenses for undocumented immigrants, gun control and gay marriage.

"The time is right and the time is now to lead in the nation on marriage equality," Emanuel said.

A spokeswoman for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn says the governor agrees, but when asked about gay marriage recently, Quinn had his own prepared list of things he said he wants Springfield to deal with first.

"I think that we want to focus on things that we have to do immediately, which is pension reform, economic growth, jobs [and] strong schools," Quinn said.

Leaders in Springfield have said they plan to deal with the pension issue in January, before the next session begins.